Railway-gate



(No Model.)

F. W. MILLS. RAILWAY GATE.

No. 488,322. Patented Dec. 20, 1892,.

UNITED STATES PaTnivT @rrren.

FRANK \V. MILLS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 488,322, dated December 20, 1892. Application filed August 29, 1892. Serial No. 444, (N m l- T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK W. MILLs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Gates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the pneumatic operating mechanism for airgates of the class adapted for use as railroad crossing barriers.

My objects are to provide an air-gate having reliable, durable, easily operative, simple and comparatively inexpensive pneumatic mechanism for actuating it; and to provide a peculiarly simple and effective automatic lock to cooperate with the gate actuating mechanism in looking and unlocking the gate arm or arms.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a broken view in sectional elevation representing a gate-post supporting a swinging road and a swinging side-walk barrier-arm and provided with my improved actuating and locking mechanism; and Fig. 2 is a section taken at the line 2 on Fig. 1 and Viewed in the direction of the arrow.

A is a hollow gate-post of usual or any suitable form and material, supporting on a pivotal axis r a gate-arm B, to afford the road-' barrier. The gate may also, but not necessarily, have a side-walk barrier which is represented as comprising an arm B on a pivotal axis 7" journaled in the post and carrying a segmental series of gear-teeth q meshing with a similar series of corresponding teeth (1 on the axis 4". Inside the post, near its base, is frame 0 rigidly united by its side bars 19 with the ends 0 of the post; and in the upper portion of the post is a similar frame D, the sides n of which should, however, be vertically wider than those of the lower frame.

E is a lever pivotally supported at its lower end, as at as, between the side-bars p of the frame 0, extending thence upward through the frame D, and carrying at its upper end a segmental rack m meshing with a pinion or segment m of a pinion on the shaft 0.

As shown and as will hereinafter appear, the gate-arm actuating mechanism is duplicated in one post, one part being adapted to effect lowering of the barrier and the other to effect raising thereof. The arrangement may, however, be otherwise, as hereinafter suggested.

F and F are bars fitting edgewise between the frame-bars 19 near the opposite sides 0 of the post, and bearing on the base 0 of the post, being fastened, as by bolts at at, between the side-bars p and extending thence upward between the sides of the frame D to which they are also bolted.

G and G are levers fulcrumed, as at 00 between the sides of the rigid frame 0 respectively adjacent to the bars F and F, and extending thence upward between the sides 11 of the rigid frame D.

An air-pressure supply which may be in the form of an air-pump, (not shown, but supposedly located in the cabin of the gate op-. erator) has its outlet 11 controllable through the medium of a suitable valve H, in the present instance a four-way valve though it may under some conditions of the mechanism be a three-way valve; but the construction of neither form is shown in detail in the drawings, because it is old and well-known, in connection with air-gates. From the valve H proceed two outlets t and 25, between which is the pipe H; and the valve is adjustable to produce communication of the pipe H with either outlet and of the other outlet with the open air. The outlets t and t connect with or terminate in collapsible and inflatable tubes I and I of materialimpervious to air, such as rubber hose, each being closed at its extremity, as represented at 50 The tube I passes from the pipe 75 up one side of the stationary bar F, then over the latter and down its opposite side, thence up the adjacent side of the lever G, over the latter and down its opposite side, the terminal length of the tube being thus confined between the le- Vers E and G and the folded double length thereof between the lever G and stationary bar F. The tube I passes from the pipe t up one side of the bar F, then over the latter and down its opposite side, thence up the adjacent side of the lever G, over the latter and down its opposite side, the terminal length of this tube being confined between the levers E and G and the folded double length thereof between the lever G and stationary bar F.

K is a band or ring extending, free, transversely about the bars F and F below the frame D, and thereby closely embracing the hose and all intermediate parts of the mechanism.

As thus far described, the mechanism operates as follows: The gate-arms B- and B are represented as up, to which position they may have been brought by turning the valve H to open communication with the pump of the outlet 6' and to open that of the outlett with the open air. Then, on working the pump, air-pressure will have been forced into the tube I inflating it to an extent sufiicient to turn the lever G in the direction toward the lever E, thereby also forcing the terminal length of the tube against the lever E to turn it sufficiently to cause it, by engagement between its rack m and the pinion m, to turn the gate-axis and raise the arms. The tube I is meantime collapsed (being open to the outer air,) by the consequent pressure of the lever E against it, whereby it compresses the folded double length of the tube I between the lever G and the bar F. To lower the gatearmsthe valve H is adjusted to open the tube I to the outer air and admit air-pressure into the tube I, when the effect on the parts is the reverse of that described.

L is an automatic lock shown as involving the following described details: A jointed bar It is pivoted near its joint n to the lever E near its segment-head end; and links 6 and 2" connect the jointed bar from its opposite ends with the upper ends, respectively, of thebars F and F, the connection between each link and the end of the bar 70 being of a stop-joint form to prevent downward bending of the link-joint when the link is brought into alignment with the bar. A trip-finger h is pivotally supported between its ends, as at 1;, in the frame D and is pivotally connected at its lower end with the frame K, extending at its upper end under the bar it.

In the relations of the parts as represented the gate-arms are locked in their raised positions, since the bar 76 and link t" form a straight line from the pivotal connection of the bar with the lever E to the connection of the link with the rigid stop-bar F.

To unlock the arms prior to lowering them the operation is as follows: The frame K is horizontally movable, being moved in either direction by inflating one tube while collapsing the other. As the end length of a tube into which the air-pressure is forced will expand first, obviously the frame K will be moved slightly before the lever E begins to act to turn the gate-bar B. Thus, when the valve H is turned to admit the pressure into the inlet-end of the tube I, with the parts in the relative positions illustrated, the frame K will be pulled in the direction (toward the left, facing Fig. 1.) that will cause the tripfinger h to move, at its free end, in the contrary direction against the part k'- of the jointed bar it in a manner to bend upward the joint with the link 71', which had been previously straight to resist any strain on the arms (as from the wind) tending to lower them, which strain will be effectually resisted because exerted through the lever E in a straight line from its pivot to the rigid bar F. WVhen the gate-arms are down, the operation of lowering them will thus have straightened the joint between the linkzand part 10 of the jointed bar is thereby causing any strain of lifting them to be resisted by being exerted, then, in a straight line from the pivot of the bar 7c against the rigid stopbar F; and in the then relative positions of the parts, the shifting of the frame K toward the left and turning of the lever E toward the right will have brought the trip-finger h under the part 76 (then inclining upwardly from its link) of the bar 70. Forcing air then into the tube I to raise the gate-arms will cause the primary action to be that of shifting the frame Ktoward the right, causing the free end of the trip-finger h to move toward the left against the part of the bar is and thus break the joint with the link i and permit the lever E to be turned in the desired direction.

Obviously, one tubeI or I and its attendant parts will suffice for my purpose provided other means (such as a weight) be employed for working the gate in one direction, or, where the gate involves two or more arms connected together in a manner whereby raising or lowering of one raises or lowers with it the other, the post of one gate-arm B may contain one of the sets of actuating means comprising an air-tube and attendant parts and that of another, or companion-arm B may contain the other set, the two sets being ar ranged to operate accordingly; and the application of my improvement may be changed in various ways too obvious to require illustration without thereby departing from the spirit of my invention. Of course, also, my

lock may be single-acting, or operative to unlock in one direction only by omitting one section of the bar It and the link connected with it.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In combination with a gate-post and a swinging arm thereon, a lever E in the post geared directly to the axis of the arm to operate it by turning on its fulcrum, a suitable stop in the post, a lever fulcrumedin the post adjacent to the lever E, a collapsible and expansible tube closed at one end and extended and confined between the said levers and between the stop and adjacent lever, and airpressure'mechanism for directing air under pressure into the said tube, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a gate-post and a swinging arm thereon, a lever E in the post connected with the arm to operate it by turning on its fulcrum, a suitable stop in the post,

a lever fulcrumed in the post adjacent to the lever E, a collapsible and expansible tube closed at one end and extended and confined between the said levers and between the stop and adjacent lever, air-pressure mechanism for directing air under pressure into the said tube, a band K surrounding the tube and intermediate parts and movable therewith, and a lock comprising a jointed bar connected at opposite ends respectively with the lever E and adjacent stop and a trip-finger h on and actuated by the movement of the frame K, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with a gate-post A and an arm B journaled thereon and havingagear m 011 its journal, frames 0 andDrespectively in the base and upper portion of the post, levers E and G fulcrumed on the lower frame and extending upward therefrom, the lever E terminating in a segmental rack m meshing with the gear m, a stop F fastened toward its opposite ends between said frames, rubber into the said tubes, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with a gate-post A and an arm B journaled thereon and havingagear ver and folded between the two and extended between the lever E and adjacent lever, airpressure mechanism for directing air under pressure into either tube at will and thereby opening communication of the other tube with the outer air, and an automatic lock L comprising the band K surrounding the tubing and carrying the pivotal trip-finger h fulcrumed on the post, a jointed bar is pivotally connected with the lever E, and links z and i connecting the bar 70 from its opposite ends respectively with the stops F and F, the whole being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described,

FRANK W. MILLS.

In presence of A J. W. DYRENFORTH, M. E. WINN. 

